1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium and more particularly to a liquid ejecting apparatus using a liquid ejecting head for ejecting a liquid (e.g., ink) to a recording medium (printing medium).
2. Description of the Prior Art
An ink jet recording method for performing a printing operation by ejecting ink to a printing medium has been hitherto utilized as a recording method employable for a printer as an output terminal of outputting means for an information processing system, said outputting means including copying machines, facsimiles, electronic typewriters, word processors, work stations or the like, or a handy and/or portable printer which may be equipped in personal computer, host computer, optical disc apparatus, video apparatus or the like.
Since the ink jet recording method is practiced by ejecting ink from a nozzle in the form of fine liquid droplets to record characters, figures or the like, it has excellent advantages as means for outputting an image with high fineness and for performing a printing operation at a high speed. In addition, since a recording apparatus having the foregoing recording method used therefor (hereinafter referred to as an ink jet recording apparatus) is a non-impact type recording apparatus, generates little noise, can easily record images with multi-colors, is constructed with smaller dimensions, and moreover, can record an image with higher density, in recent years, it is rapidly distributed.
Here, the word "recording" involves application of ink to all kinds of ink carriers each adapted to receive ink such as cloth, thread, paper, sheet material or the like. For this reason, the ink jet recording method is applicable not only in the field of information processing but wide industrial fields such as an apparel industry using ink carriers each adapted to receive ink such as cloth, thread, paper, sheet material or the like.
For example, a liquid ejecting apparatus having an ink jet process used therefor (printing and dyeing apparatus) has advantages that a degree of freedom of an image to be printed is high, and the whole printing and dyeing are achieved at a low cost, for a main reason that an original plate for an image to be printed is not required.
With the conventional ink jet recording method, however, ink mist, which has a size smaller than that of ink droplet that is usually called satellite, is generated at the same time when ink droplets to adhere for contributing to printing are ejected during an ejecting operation. The ink mist moves while floating in the air and adheres to parts other than a recording medium.
In case of an apparatus like a small-sized printer which is operated for a short period of working time and has a small total quantity of printing, a quantity of adhesion of the ink mist is very small and causes no serious problem. However, in case of an apparatus having a large print width on the assumption that it is operated for 24 hours per day like an ink jet printing/dyeing apparatus, a large quantity of ink mist adheres to the surrounding and the interior of the apparatus. This is unavoidably recognized as a serious problem.